


Bury Me Over Red

by JayOrLex



Series: A Broken World For Broken People [2]
Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout - Fandom, Fallout: New Vegas
Genre: Agony, Anger, Choking, Comfort, Cottonwood Cove, F/M, Hurt, Kidnapping Plan Gone Sour, Legion - Freeform, Legion Slave Camp, Panic Attack, Red - Freeform, Sedation, a whole lotta angst, bad memories, crosses, embracing, outrage, overwhelming
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-06
Updated: 2019-08-06
Packaged: 2020-08-10 21:41:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,834
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20142412
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JayOrLex/pseuds/JayOrLex
Summary: She knew she should have left him out on this one.





	Bury Me Over Red

**Author's Note:**

> So I've come to notice I'm much better at writing one shots because there's next to no 'committment' involved, which I've finally realized I really suck at. That's not to say I'm done writing the fic, I'm just suffering from writer's block and it's hard loves.

She knew this was a bad idea. Could tell by the way the muscles of his back tensed at the first cross they saw.

_You didn't have a choice. _

She tried telling herself that as they took their position at the Sniper's Lookout. She almost jumped off the cliff at the thought.

She damn sure had the choice, she just has a tendency to pick the wrong ones.

One of her hands slipped off her rifle, cautiously trailing over to Boone's hand. His knuckles were ghostly white with how hard he was gripping his own rifle. 

One small touch, and he jerked, wide emerald eyes wide enough to be seen over his glasses. "Hey," she whispered, giving his arm a gentle squeeze. "If you're not feeling up to it, we can-"

"Stop." It's all he said. Man of few words, a powerful self-defense mechanism that she could never argue with. 

So she chose not to, instead peering back into the scope of her rifle at the red, seeming all too illuminated by the moonlight. It was almost poetic, how easy nature was making this for them.

"Whatever happens, stay here. No traipsing into camp on a one-man murder spree, okay?" She gave him a long side glance. "I know how much you want this, but I don't want you dying for something as petty as revenge."

He only huffed, shifting his body further into the hard terrain as he trained his rifle, straight and true, at the gleaming centurion helmet bobbing by the slave pen.

"On my count." She sighed out a tentative breath, hands securing grip on her rifle as she aimed it at Canyon Runner. "One, two-"

A premature shot from Boone was the key to unleashing the gates of hell.

_

Boone had trained her rather well. Each time a new head popped out from the tents, it'd be gone before they could get two feet on the ground. 

_Aim up. Deep breath. Stay calm. Take the shot._

His words were the only thing echoing through her cleared mind as she and Boone harmoniously took off the heads of every frantic demon that scoured the campgrounds. 

Before either of them knew it, or wanted it, it was silent in the camp. Dead scum and the sound of crickets were all there was to greet them. "Wish there was more of them." She heard some tension release from his stature as he breathed out. "I wasn't done yet."

"Hmm," she chuckled, strapping her rifle to her back and unholstering her pistol, getting up on her feet. "Let's just make sure there aren't any stragglers, yeah? I'll even give you dibs on the first one."

She almost fainted right then and there as she heard his laughter, genuine, serene laughter. "Yeah." He got up, flashing her a white grin. "Sure know how to get an old man's heart racing, huh?"

"You're 26, dipshit," she smiled back at him as they made their way down the rough terrain toward the camp. "Younger than me even."

"Cougar warning," he whispered teasingly at her, choosing to take point as he brushed past her.

Her entire being felt elevated at this newfound, giddy behavior coming from her battle-hardened, stoic companion.

If going on a killing spree was the only thing that could bring it out, the Legion won't even stand a chance.

She was about to say something, a joke, smile at him, but everything was cut from her as she felt hands wrap tightly around her neck. She began to struggle but stopped completely when she felt the familiar cold metal press against her temple.

What a terrible moment for _deja vu._

Boone was already turned around, pistol aiming right for the captor's head before she felt the vibration on her shoulder blades. This sadistic fuck was actually laughing at them.

"I wouldn't. One move toward the trigger, and she's dead." For emphasis, she heard the click of the pistol as the safety was turned off.

She recognized that voice. The first time she'd ever encountered Legion atrocities at full force. Since then, all evil things she'd seen done by them were personified by his face.

"Vulpes," she hissed against the tight grip on her throat.

She felt his head move down to look at her. "And how do you know me?" A beat later, and a knowing click of his tongue. "Ah, the profligate rat from Nipton." The vibration came again. "I have to say, I did not expect this from you. You," his head ducked as his mouth was right next to ear, hot breath like hellfire against her skin, "have impressed me."

"Boone, do it," she croaked, stars beginning to form at the sides of her eyes as the pressure was getting to be too much.

A sharp inhale from Inculta. "Boone? Boone, Boone....." she felt the pistol release from her temple as he tapped it against his head. "Now where have I heard that name before?"

Her blood ran cold. "You didn't."

"Oh, that's right! The slave from Nipton. Whore with a bastard child in her belly. She really was a treasure, would have made me much, much richer." 

Six could do nothing but stare at her companion, as his grip tightened and breath grew heavier as he stared at the man before him. 

"Such a shame, what happened to her. One clean shot, straight between the eyes. Wonder how that must have felt?" The smile in his voice made her stomach roll.

She watched as a humorless smirk tugged at the corner of Boone's lips. "A little bit like this." 

She could feel the heat of the bullet whip just above her head as it entered the fox-man's face. Instantly, his grip on her loosened and she heard the thud of his body hitting the ground. 

She was too busy hurling to look back though.

The bullet, how it came so close. Sick twist of fate, coming back to finish the job.

When she finally came back to earth, she twisted as she heard Boone's grunts and the grotesque squish of someone's face being smashed in with a rifle butt.

She scrambled up, walking tentatively toward him. "Boone." She tried calling to him, but it only made his bashes faster. She sucked in a breath, running to him and putting her hand firmly on his arm, ripping it away from the body. "Boone, look at me! He's dead, Boone. It's over."

He whipped around to face her, shades discarded somewhere in the middle of his fit. His eyes were bloodshot. "Over? This will never be over."

"Boone..." she whispered soothingly, reaching out for him to only push her away roughly.

"It almost happened again." It started as a whisper, and she was about to ask him what he meant before he looked back up at her. "You were almost taken from me, right out from under my eyes. Again." His hand dragged across his face, but it didn't calm him in the slightest.

"It wasn't supposed to be like this!" Tears sprang freely from his eyes now as he shook violently. "I was supposed to have a family! A baby girl! Carla wasn't supposed to be dead, I was supposed to be happy!" His breathing came shallow. "I knew it was too good to be true, I was too lucky. They were all right. She didn't belong with me, she-" his hands started clawing at the hair he'd let grow out, "she's gone, and it's all my fault!"

The shock made her eyes water. Boone had never, in the three months they'd been together, behaved like this.

She knew she should have left him behind on this one.

"No, Boone-" he didn't bother to hear her as he scooped up his rifle, stalking toward the raft.

"Boone, wait. We aren't ready, you're not yourself. We can't-"

"He doesn't get to live through this. That bastard doesn't deserve-" he was cut short as he gasped, a needle stabbing straight into his neck. He turned to see the tranquilizer dart sticking from his throat.

The look of utter betrayal in his emerald eyes shook her to her core, but she stood her ground until the tranquilizer made his knees give out. With enough foresight, she grabbed the rifle from his hands just before he crumpled to the ground, unconscious.

She let out a shaky sigh as she took in the area around her. As grim as the resolution may have been, she couldn't help but feel a little proud as her eyes scanned over the bodies. At least 50, taken out in less than an hour by just two people. 

She let herself smile as she went back to the mangled corpse of Inculta, turning on her flashlight in order to find wherever Boone's sunglasses and beret had fallen. 

When she found them, she stuffed them into her pack and walked back to Boone's unconscious body. Strapping his rifle to her back next to her own, she knelt down to his face. 

Looking around, she realized he probably wouldn't take kindly to waking up in a Legion tent. So, she wrapped her arms under his and began dragging his body back up to the lookout area.

Rolling out her bedroll, she heaved him on it. Gathering up wood and starting a fire, she sighed, sitting on his opposite side so she could watch him. Flicking through her pipboy with no purpose, all she could do was wait for him to wake up.

_

It was near dawn, sky stretching out in its pretty pinks and oranges when she heard stirring from Boone. In a matter of seconds, she was on her feet, water flask in her hand as she waited for him to open his eyes.

He did, pretty emeralds scanning his surroundings before they landed on her. "Where are we?"

She shook her head. "Doesn't matter. Here." She wrapped one arm under his back as she helped him into an upright position. Holding the flask up to his lips, she let him take more than generous gulps as he sighed, cloudiness disappearing from his eyes.

"What-" his eyes found the camp as he leaned back on his arms. "What happened?"

"We won, Boone. We did it together. And that's all that matters." She strained to make him look at her. Every time he looked like he was about to say something, his mouth would close and he'd look away again. "Just say it, Boone."

He looked back to her, eyes getting watery. "I'm sorry. About, you know. I wasn't thinking, and-"

Her arms wrapped around his neck, and she pulled him into a tight embrace. For a long while, he didn't seem to know how to react. Eventually, though, his arms found their way around her waist.

"You have nothing to apologize for, Boone. We did it."

They stayed there, listening to each other's heartbeats as the dark orange sun began to cast its morning rays on their backs. 

"We'll be okay."


End file.
